Fed up with hypocrits???

Unbelievable! I am so fed up with people saying one thing but doing the opposite... ARRGGH!!!!!





See for yourself here:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/02/28/gore-electricity.html?ref=rss

Photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/jetalone/378293806/

A well-rounded champion!

Can you draw a perfect circle in less than a second? This Ottawa teacher, Alexander Overwijk, surely can!

Modern art, Britney Spears hair and Brad Pitt's facial tissue...

I love art, especially contemporary art. One of my favorite painters is Barnett Newman and the National Gallery in Ottawa has one of its paintings...Voice of Fire (the title)...and it is just splendid! This special painting is nothing more that two vertical lines surrounding a red one (you can see it here). The museum purchased it in 1989 for 1.8 million (CDN). Is that too much for such a simple painting (although it is 18 feet tall)?

Maybe yes....but...maybe not! It depends! Some people would not spend a dime for it. After all, all this money could have been used for social housing, homeless people, shelters....biomedical research! On the other hand, this is the price to pay for a "Barnett Newman". Why? Because there is a market for it! Still not convinced?

Let me give you a little (and disgusting) example!

You follow someone and that person blows its nose and throws the facial tissue on the ground as he walks...are you going to touch that dirty facial tissue? Chances are, you are going to stay clear of that piece of softened cellulose with goo in it. BUT WAIT....that person in front of you is...YES...Brad Pitt! If you have just a bit of marketing brains, you are going to sell it on eBay (if you can prove it comes from Brad...maybe you can extract DNA from it). That SAME facial tissue now has a market potential! You understand? Sure you do! That is probably why you are not surprized by the fact that poor Britney's (boo-hoo) hair is now on sale on the internet...for a million bucks MINIMUM.

That's a lot of money for some keratin that grew in a head full of water....but that's just me!

Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/russelljsmith/9658510/

And...what about YOU?

Frequently I posts teaching tips and my feelings about teaching. I am interested in sharing experiences! Anyone with good stories are VERY WELCOME to write about them. Just tell me about them and I will create a link to you blog! I just want to create an exchange blog...but not just about me! So...what about YOU????

Photo credit: this image was modified and can be found at this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/assbach/136040511/

Teaching tip #6: Open door

An open door is so much more than just a door. An open door invites for discussion, creativity and thinking. An open door is really telling your students that you care. An open door creates an opportunity for you to recall what you were then....just a kid with questions and, maybe, fear of the future! Now, there you are...a teacher, a professor, a parent or maybe.....a student! Remember where you come from. Just remember!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/

Distance Learning...wonderful!

I started to teach a course with some students in the classroom and some in another city. It works perfectly well for several reasons:

• I am aware that the distant students are AS IMPORTANT as the students are in the class room
• I am aware that distant students need 2 to 3 seconds before they can hear me and I have to patient for their feedback
• I refer to them just as much as I refer to the students in the classroom (see first comment)
• Technical staff is ESSENTIAL for successful distance learning
• I am using tools that make sure students see where I am going...no laser pointers here!

Picture credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/philipyk/